An adventure in Abu !

….lying down on a bench under a large fig, light filtered through the canopy on a mostly blue sky with faint wisps of clouds. The smell of rotis being fried in the air making me hungrier by the second. Our Obscure Abu trip with Bike N Hike was coming to an end. Only one adventure remained. In the past 36 hours we had trekked for more than 5 hours covering a distance of around 9-10 kms. This trip had totally shattered my myth about Mt. Abu!

Mt. Abu Wildlife Sanctuary is a 4 hrs drive from Ahmedabad. It is not really known as a Wildlife Sanctuary but a hill station with booze to commoners and ignorant fools like me. A chill in the air outside informed us that we were now far from the hot urban chaos of the Ahmedabad city, driving on winding hilly roads of Abu towards our campsite.

 The campsite was a dream with a large fig making the roof for our dining and ‘lounging area’ on top of a ridge . It offered stunning views of the small houses and palm tree lined hills at a distance. We gaped at the mesmerising sunrise while hot aloo parathas were being served for breakfast. The morning couldn’t have been more perfect! Oh and what tea! (I will take this ocassion to clarify that I am a complete foody. So don’t be shy and do invite me for some good food.)
 
 

 The night-trek later in the day brought me face to face with a beautiful Green Keelback and a civet(a mammal) which I have never seen in the wild.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The next day started of with another yummy breakfast and a trek to the upper Kodra Dam, where we did a bit of caving. What is caving you ask? Ohh, we just crawl through a dark damp slit in a rock, without a torch, to reach the light at the other end! As we were resting by the shadow of this rock, we were treated with a wonderful raptor sighting, later IDed as an Eurasian Hobby. Sadly, couldn’t get some good shots of the bird. But here’s a Panoramic shot of the Kodra Dam site…

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….lying down on a bench under a large fig, light filtered through the canopy on a mostly blue sky with faint wisps of clouds. The smell of rotis being fried in the air making me hungrier by the second. Our Obscure Abu trip with Bike N Hike was coming to an end…….

That evening, rappel, I did and that too not once but twice! I left Abu with a heavy heart loaded with warm memories and great new friends. A special thanks to Kshitish for sharing his wonderful knowledge about butterflies!

But my romance with the place has just begun thanks to Vipul Ramanuj and Bike N Hike!